All this talk about Whitney Houston’s death has brought out a plethora of talking 12 step heads hyperventilating about how addiction is a life long disease and the children of addicts have “The Gene”. This can become a self fulfilling prophecy. Dr Drew and Jane Velez-Mitchell are all over TV spouting lots of information as if it is fact.
The fact is many people do not agree with the 12 step dogma at all. What is most upsetting though is how they are stigmatizing our children into thinking they have a disease and inherited a gene from there addicted parents.
The Fix has an excellent article about this below.
We need to stand up to this 12 step madness and save the kids from emotional harm from this brainwashing from 12 step zealots.
How a Bogus Addiction Panic is Criminalizing Our Kids
The new official definition of addiction will likely label many more young Americans with the disease. Do we really want to dump this on the next generation?
By Maia Szalavitz
02/15/12
The DSM V—the next edition of psychiatry’s diagnostic bible—will redefine addiction in ways likely to have long-lasting, real-world consequences. As I explored in my column last week, psychiatrists are eliminating the seriously problematic terms “Substance Abuse” and “Substance Dependence” and placing all related conditions into a single new category: “Substance Use and Addictive Disorders.”
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Indeed, research shows that some people who meet the full criteria for alcoholism or addiction can return to controlled use—though this proportion decreases as severity of the problem increases. The data also shows that a large proportion of people who would currently be diagnosed as “substance dependent” recover without any type of treatment or self-help involvement at all.
In short, no one can predict which college drunk will go on to skid row—and which one will become President.
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Even now, however, a great deal of treatment energy and time is currently aimed at trying to get people in recovery to admit that they have “the disease of addiction” and to label themselves as “addicts” or “alcoholics” in therapy groups. Counselors and other staff press clients to confess to a greater and greater problem severity, due to the pervasive suspicion that most people with addiction lie about how much they use. (This continues to be done in the face of research showing that doing so does not benefit recovery—if anything, “confronting denial” is linked with more relapse, not less.)
This push to adopt an addict identity happens even in adolescent treatment— despite the fact that most teens in treatment do not meet criteria for being addicted (some don’t even meet criteria for drug abuse!). Indeed, the vast majority are, not surprisingly, nondaily binge users of booze and pot. Nonetheless, at ever-younger ages, these kids are being pressured to view themselves primarily as addicts and alcoholics and to admit to having a chronic, lifelong illness with a 90% chance of relapse. Very little research has been done on the effects of this “treatment”—but given what we know about the fluidity of adolescent identity, it certainly has the potential to do significant harm.
For one, it can be a self-fulfilling prophecy—and I’ve spoken with quite a few people who have gone into adolescent treatment as marijuana users and emerged as cocaine or prescription drug misusers, in part because they felt that they were “already addicts anyway.” Second, since research cannot predict which teens will outgrow their problems and which will have a chronic course, does it really make sense to have them all embrace a stigmatized identity centered around a disease?
The Complete Article-
http://www.thefix.com/content/addiction-definition-phony-epidemic-DSMV8765
I like the points that this article makes, particularly about addictions starting in teen years. This does not mean they were born with the ‘gene’, or will be addicts for life. They are teens!
Priority Health: Addictions
By Dr. Randy Shuck
Last Updated: Friday, February 17, 2012
With the passing of Whitney Houston, and the speculation of drug addiction, I thought it was appropriate to put this issue into perspective. Whenever there is a high profile person associated with addiction, it usually has the same effects as a car wreck….you don’t want to look at it, but something makes you look anyway. Addiction is a hot topic due to the devastation it has caused, especially in Florida with a growing prescription drug problem. But let’s look closer at the definition of addiction: “the continued use of a mood altering substance or behavior despite knowing the adverse consequences.”
This type of problem is very common in the medical field. I want to take the opportunity to share with you some of the most common “addictions” I see every day, and maybe this recognition will put into perspective how common this really is.
Common addictions:
Sugar or carbohydrates to a Diabetic
Food to an obese person
Cigarettes to someone with COPD
Salt to someone with high blood pressure
Exercise/dieting to an anorexic
Steroids to a bodybuilder
Sun tanning to someone with skin cancer
Addiction deals with the pleasure center of the brain. Unfortunately, if you have an addictive personality, you could technically get addicted to anything. Often, there is an underlying psychological condition is causing the behavior, so being honest with yourself will make the addiction easier to understand, and control.
Signs of Addictive Personality:
Sensitive to stress
Lack self esteem
Impulsive behaviors
Sensitive to social situations
Easily influenced by others
After researching this topic, it became quite clear to me that all of us are at risk for addiction at some time in our lives. When I was compiling the list for Addictive Personality traits, the first thing that jumped to mind was how these behaviors describe the typical teenager. After researching further, I found that most addictions started early in a person’s life, most commonly during the teenage years. So for you parents out there, a word of warning, and support: gentle guidance and limitations during these turbulent years will help your children throughout their lives.
http://www.cfnews13.com/article/news/2012/february/383586/Priority-Health:–Addictions
Is anyone else seeing this? Just go to CNN’s website and check out all the related articles about Whitney and prescription drugs that had to do with Anderson Cooper/ Dr. Drew and Jane Velez- Mitchell! Thankfully, Anderson Cooper is questioning authority and “keeping them honest.” This gets a little heated, especially under Dr. Drew’s collar!
Jane infers that, users are “NOT ACCOUNTABLE,” when they’re using and Dr. Drew is trying to school all of us ignorant, clueless people on the fact that any human being, who has ever experienced addiction is, forever now a powerless addict for life with literally “NO CHOICE” when it comes to the ability to say no!
Anderson Cooper chose not to swallow that one!
While I totally agree with Dr. Drew’s position about how doctors should not be dealing out these deadly combinations of so-called “legal drugs”, he totally loses me and science for that matter, when he flip-flops over to his archaic 12-step mantra about how a human being is POWERLESS, with “NO CHOICE.”
What kind of message is, you’re NOT ACCOUNTABLE when you’re using and you are absolutely POWERLESS with NO CHOICE to say no to what ever, when it comes to getting and using a substance? Not a helpful one for someone who is holding on by a thread. It doesn’t take a doctor to know that this is not an absolute science! Many people have learned and continue to learn how to find the will, along the proper tools and techniques to be able to say no. New healthy lifestyles create new healthy patterns in the brain and a human being can find that they do have the power to outgrow addiction and choose to be accountable and empowered!